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Frommer's Interactive Travel Guides Available for iPhone and iPad

Frommer's, the market leader in travel guides, and Inkling, the publisher behind interactive digital textbooks, have launched Monday what they call "the first-ever truly interactive travel guides for iPhone and iPad."

They're Frommer's traditional "Day by Day" guidebooks combined with all the things the Internet and mobile publishing now allows us to do to prepare for travel — research destinations, comb through pictures and maps, view updated weather reports, read user reviews, write our own public notes and more.

While travel guide apps for mobile devices have been available for some time now, they have never offered something truly comprehensive for the traveler, says Matt MacInnis, CEO and founder of Inkling.

"Anything right now is just a spring of text and pictures," he told Mashable in an interview. "It's actually been the lowest-performing segment of digital content today because it just hasn't been useful."

However, the use of digital devices when it comes to travel is a booming phenomenon, according to recent research. Even if you can't imagine yourself carrying an iPad with you while traveling, more than 80% of international travelers use their smartphones while traveling abroad. Domestic travelers are also not immune to using the smartphones to search for maps, restaurants and other activities.

That's where Frommer's new iPhone and iPad guides come in. The guides are optimized for cross-platform use, meaning you can purchase one travel guide and access it on both your iPad and iPhone.

The Frommer's Day by Day series features content such as one, two and three day itineraries, must-see locations and "best of" moments. The beauty of these features being available in app format — aside from the ease of carrying it with you — is that it makes planning for travel a much more interactive experience. Each guide features rich maps and high-resolution photos, allowing you to immerse yourself in your travel before you begin your trip. You can scroll through photo galleries, tap into specific pictures and immediately access a host of information related to your journey, such as location, history and relevant websites and phone numbers.

Not only that, but you can also access real-time weather reports and layered maps, so you can see restaurants, places to stay and attractions all in one place — and be sure to know if you should dress for a sunny day or a rainy day. All the information is cross-linked, so you never have to lose track of where you are in the guidebook.

And in the same way you would make notes, highlights or bookmarks with print travel guide books, you can do the same thing with these travel guides — except the process is much more streamlined.

Say, for example, you come across a line in the ebook about a museum you want to visit. Simply by highlighting that line, the museum will come up in a notebook feature on the app. Next time you want to go back to the information about the museum, all you have to do is go to your notebook, click on the annotation the app saved, and boom — it'll take you right back to the source of the information in the guidebook.

If you're a fan of reading personal user reviews on sites like TripAdvisor, you're in luck — these new app travel guides feature them as well. And you can even make your own public comments about a place, so you have a say in what to recommend to other travelers.

"This is curated content that is a subset of the world of possibilities," MacInnis says of the recommendations and reviews. So if you come across something in your travels that's not listed in the guidebook, you can add it to the app.

As a bonus, the new apps aren't subject to the bane of digital nomads worldwide: roaming fees.

"All of the content is local on the device," MacInnis says. Once you download the ebook, all of its features, including the map data, are immediately available. You'll have to connect to a Wi-Fi spot for some updates, such as weather.

Another important feature? Push notifications. If a natural disaster or other emergency situation occurs while you're vacationing, these apps will give you essential information that could save your vacation — or your life.

So far, the travel guides are available for the seven top destinations for American travelers — Alaska, California, Costa Rica, France, Great Britain, Japan and Spain. The prices start at $9.99 for Costa Rica and France and are $14.99 for the remaining apps. But Inkling and Frommer's plan to roll out more destinations in the summer and fall as travel season starts picking up. They also plan to make the apps available to non-Apple devices in the future.

MacInnis has high expectations for how these app guides will influence travel.

"Traveling abroad is something where the mobile device has not been an automatic must-have, but i think this is going to change that," he says.

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Mashable
is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 42 million unique visitors worldwide and 21 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.